With just a month left in the season, the Weber State University hockey team entered the Wasatch Cup riding a six-game win streak and looked to bring the Wasatch Cup back to Ogden. WSU finished 1-1 on the weekend and took third place after losing to Utah State University and beating Utah Valley University.
The Wasatch Cup is played each year between UVU, USU, BYU and WSU switching between the universities hosting each year.
WSU entered Friday night’s matchup with Utah State as the 13th ranked team in the west region of the ACHA, Utah State was right behind them at 14.
“It’s been a great run,” head coach Alan Kapinos said. “We’ve lost some guys at the break and have asked a lot from all of our guys, and from the pipes out, we’ve been solid and beat some good teams during that time.”
Before the puck dropped on Friday night, the Utah State fans who made the drive down from Logan made their presence known and kept the chants louder than the Weber State crowd all night.
The first period got off to a slow start as both hadn’t faced off in three months and were feeling each other out. Utah State was able to find the back of the net when a deflected goal got past WSU’s net minder Kyle Lane.
“The game started out with us feeling out each other,” Kapinos said. “They got that first goal, and we were chasing the game.”
WSU was never able to rally back. Despite having eight power plays, the Wildcats weren’t able to bring USU lead under two.
The Wildcats lone goal came senior forward Zan Hobbs in the second period, his 14th on the year. Senior forward William Fobair added assist 27 on the season.
“It was a great pass, and I was able to put it in the back of the net,” Hobbs said.
It was a short turn around for WSU as they were back on the ice Saturday night to take on the Utah Valley Wolverines for third place in the Wasatch Cup.
The ‘Cats got on the board early and never looked back, finishing the Wasatch Cup with a 7–1 win.
Weber State will compete in the Mountain West Tournament next weekend with a spot in regionals on the line.
“Right now in the rankings we are on the outside looking in,” Kapinos said. “We have just a few games left to prove our worth and hopefully get into regionals.”
The ’Cats are 7-3 in their last ten games and are looking to keep winning into the final weeks of the season.
“It’s going to be a little bit of an uphill battle, but our guys have been playing well the last month,” Kapinos said. “We have no doubt that we can leave it all out there, and we’ll see what happens.”
